Graphic courtesy of VT Athletics
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper recognized more than 90 baseball student-athletes on Tuesday as the organization announced its 2020 NCAA Division I Freshman All-American baseball teams, powered by Diamond Sports. Virginia Tech outfielder Gavin Cross was named to the squad, giving the Hokies three postseason All-Americans this year.
Cross is just the seventh Tech player to earn freshman All-American status and the first since Mark Zagunis in 2012. Ian Seymour and Carson Taylor were named third team baseball All-Americans last week, marking the first time since 2003 that the Hokies have had three honorees. Matt Dalton (first team) and Marc Tugwell (second) were named all-Americans in 2003, while Ryan Kennedy was named to the freshman team that year.
An outfielder from Bristol, Tenn., Cross was one of four Hokies to start all 16 games, 15 in right field and one as the designated hitter. During the abbreviated season, he tied for a team best with seven multi-hit games and added three multi-RBI games and three multi-run scoring games.
Cross finished second on the team with a .369 batting average with 24 hits, including one double, for 25 total bases and a .385 slugging percentage. He scored 14 runs and drove in eight runs while posting a .408 on-base percentage. He was also 7-for-7 on stolen bases, second most on the team.
In the NCAA rankings at season’s end, Cross was 74th in stolen bases, 76th in hits, 89th in hits per game (1.50), 103rd in stolen bases per game (0.44) and 190th in batting average.
